Crazy Scanner Software Problem

[Cec Britton]

My system is a homebrew unit, I'm running Windows 2000 Pro., Asus A7V333 motherboard, 512 Mb RAM, Athlon XP 1800 processor.

I have a Canon D1250U2F USB scanner that was working fine until just recently. For some reason now when I start the scanner, using any of several applications including Paint Shop Pro, Canon Scangear Toolbox and Omnipage Pro 10, the scanner scans one page and then locks up the application program. At first I noticed that I could only reset the scanner by logging out and back into Windows. Then I could make one more scan and then get a repeat of the lock up of the application.

I finally noticed that there were a couple of new processes running when I opened Task Manager each time after a lock up. The processes were/are twunk.exe and wowexec.exe. Both of these processes are 16 bit applications and neither appears to be using any CPU time.
I found that by stopping the two new processes I could go back and scan another page without logging out.

Canon says that this is not a Canon software or hardware problem and I agree because I have uninstalled everything having to do with the scanner and reinstalled an updated software setup with no change in results. Also I know that the two 16 bit programs are part of Windows 2000.

I just installed Windows 2k SP 4 to see if it cleared up the problem but it did not. I have run System File Checker and found a couple of .dlls that were replaced with correct versions but none of this has helped the problem either. I am at a loss as to why running a 32 bit application causes a couple of 16 bit processes to run. Any help in isolating this or in suggesting a good diagnostic will be much appreciated. I have several process viewers that will show dependencies but none of them track a 16 bit process.

[Whyzman]

I glanced this read over and it might have some implications for your problem:

http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/Content/435/06/2.html

If I'm reading this right, it appears that there might be some 16 bit application that initiates Wowexec.exe which then becomes memory resident awaiting a potential recurrence of a 16 app.

Not releasing its memory foothold seems to be an issue with this program and could be causing the grief with the scanner. Is there a program that you have begun using prior to the scans?

I take a gander through the read and see if there's anything that might assist...

I'm sure others much for knowledgeable about such matters will follow! ;)

[Cec Britton]

Thanks a million Whyzman for that quick reply. Your answer sounds entirely credible and professional. I will check my system to see if some 16 bit app is running without my knowledge. I don't normally run anything of that type unless I'm in a DOS window but it is possible that some new piece of software I installed is invoking a 16 bit program without my knowledge. The link you sent is also very informative. I never thought to do a search for references to the offending processes to see how they operate.:)